MCOL Blog

by Clive Riddle, March 5, 2010

Smaller physician offices, lacking infrastructure and capital and perhaps motivation, have been viewed as the stumbling blocks to widespread physician EMR adoption, And without adequate physician adoption, hospital and health plan adoption won’t likely achieve the level of effectiveness required to justify their investments.

Accenture this week released results from a study conducted by their Innovation Center for Health and Institute for Health & Public Service Value in conjunction with Harris Interactive in which they surveyed 1,000 U.S. physicians from smaller practices (fewer than 10 physicians) regarding EMR use, with 15% of respondents being current EMR users at various levels and 85% non-users.

The good news? The majority of non-users say they now intend to purchase a system, and the percentage goes way up when you ask those who aren’t so close to retirement. The bad news?  (1) The majority if them are looking to hospitals for help and subsidies; (2) saying you intent to purchase a system doesn’t necessarily translate into actually doing so; and (3) there’s still a material number that won’t even go so far as to make that verbal commitment, despite upcoming federal penalties and incentives.

Here’s some of the key findings from Accenture:

• 58% of non-users intend to purchase an EMR system within the next two years;

• About 80% of physicians under age 55 plan to implement an EMR system within the next two years;

• 75% of non-users are potentially interested purchasing an EMR system from a local hospital - if at least subsidized for about half the cost;

• The key driver of EMR adoption is federal legislation - 61% cited federal penalties for non-adoption and 51% cited federal incentives;

• Non-users underestimate the cost and time requirements to implement an EMR system, but also have an exaggerated perception of difficulties in using EMR systems, compared to the actual experiences of EMR users;

• 90% of current EMR users – believe that their system has brought value to their practice- providing an effective overview of patients’ relevant history, records and information; and allowing quick and accurate data entry.

Accenture credits federal legislation for stimulating interest. Dr. Kip Webb, who leads their clinical transformation practice, tells us “our research indicates that, as intended, federal legislation is an important driver of EMR adoption among U.S. physicians. If U.S. health care providers properly implement and use EMRs more broadly, there is no doubt that EMRs can make an important contribution to improving quality of care and controlling costs.”

While a wider number have some level of EMR, Accenture notes that “today, just six percent of U.S. office-based physicians use a fully functioning system.”

by Clive Riddle, February 24, 2010

Employers hold employee health habits and lack of engagement largely to blame for cost increases, and feel vendors are ineffective at getting this behavior to change.

TowersWatson just released results from their 15th Annual National Business Group on Health/Towers Watson Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care. The study finds that employer health plan costs are projected to increase 6.5% for 2010, down from 7.0% in 2009, but still more than double the inflation rate. The study also found that in response, 83% of companies have already revamped or expect to revamp their health care strategy within the next two years, up from 59% in 2009.

Ron Fontanetta, a senior consultant at Towers Watson tells us, “the downturn has amplified the pressure on companies to find ways to support effective health management programs under budget constraints. For employers, the current environment is a clarion call to adjust their health plan strategy, reassess vendor relationships and aggressively address the challenge to encourage workers to become better advocates for their own health.”

Perhaps most interesting was employer listings of the top three challenges to maintaining affordable benefit coverage. Of eleven responses summarized in the survey report, the three responses listed the most were: Employees Poor Health Habits (67%); followed by a tie between High Cost Catastrophic Cases and End of Life Care (41%) and Underuse of Preventive Services (41%.)

So then Employers where asked, what were the top three obstacles to changing these poor employee health habits: of thirteen responses summarized in the survey report, the three responses listed the most were: lack of employee engagement (58%); lack of financial incentives to encourage participation in programs (31%); and lack of adequate budget to support health management programs (30%).

Other findings from the survey include:

• Regarding Consumer Driven Health Plan adoption: 44% said they had already done so with no further action needed; another 9% have adopted but plan to take additional action; 14% plan to adopt in the next two years; and 34% don’t intend to adopt.

• 23% have already consolidated health and productivity programs with a single vendor or health plan with no further action needed; another 8% have done so but plan to take additional action; 13% plan to do so in the next two years; and 57% have no plans to do so.

• 93% had no intention of reducing or eliminating health promotion programs; and 78% had no intention of reducing staff dedicated to health benefit programs.

• 57% had confidence in the future of employers as health benefit sponsors, compared to 62% in 2009 and 73% in 2010.

• 69% are auditing or reviewing health plan eligibility; 66% are using incentives to encourage completion of health risk appraisals; 57% are using claims analysis of data in a warehouse; 56% offer health coaching; and only 19% are reducing pharmacy copays for those with chronic conditions (a value based purchasing initiative)

• Employers feel vendors aren’t that effective in changing member behavior: 67% said they were not at all or just slightly effective in driving more efficient member use of services; and 66% said they were not at all or just slightly effective in changing member behavior to make more health lifestyle decisions.

by Claire Thayer, February 18, 2010

MCOL’s Healthcare Web Summit has announces it’s Ninth Annual Consumerism Web Summit event, co-sponsored by CDHC Solutions. Mark you calendars to join us on Thursday, March 18, 2010 to learn more about the future direction of health care consumerism, Aetna HealthFund Plan Performance and Consumerism initiatives, Employer Trends, and more. Live webinar event starts at 1PM Eastern. Podcasts also available.

Detailed information at:

http://www.healthwebsummit.com/consumerism.htm

By Lindsay Resnick, February 8, 2010

Member-centric Medicare Advantage plans have loyal, trusting customers. It’s not easy to steal a loyal member. More importantly, loyalty equals customer LifeTime Value which translates into stable membership and sustained profitability. In the Medicare market, competitive rivalry is at an all-time high, with well-orchestrated “switcher” campaigns targeting YOUR members. And, at a time when beneficiaries are seeing big changes in benefits and rates, plans seeing even the slightest uptick in voluntary disenrollment are also feeling the threat to long-term profitability.

Retaining members by creating loyal, satisfied customers has never been more important; particularly when acquiring new members is as much as 5-times the cost of keeping existing ones. Successful member retention takes proactive, personal customer service built on an attitude of MEMBERCENTRICITY. Improving customer loyalty is one of the least expensive, most impactful ways to protect membership and improve margins. Successful retention programs are based on three core principles:

• Data Driven The more you know about your customers, who’s at risk and what’s important to them, the more members you will retain. Understanding your customer demographic and psychographic indicators helps build loyalty.

• Continuous Interaction Frequent, personalized member outreach has huge payoff by reinforcing plan value and reaffirming a consumer’s purchase— from welcome calls to an array of “after-sale sale” communications.

• Meaningful Messaging Create a dialogue with customers…not a monologue. Seniors are looking for guidance and interaction that’s meaningful to their situation throughout their membership lifecycle—part customer service, part sales, and part senior advocacy.

Across America, consumers have become much less forgiving of bad service. In a heartbeat, they will just take their wallet and loyalty somewhere else. A member-centric Medicare Advantage experience involves every interaction with a plan’s members?every telephone call, every email exchange, and every written communication. Make sure your plan embraces a high-touch, high-results philosophy. Retention is the ultimate measure of success in Medicare Advantage.

By Clive Riddle, February 4, 2010

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics this week released preliminary results from their National Health Interview Survey, a national household survey regarding consumer use of health information technology with data collected from January through June 2009.

Their report cites a previous study:  The social life of health information [online]. Pew Internet and American Life Project. 2009, which found 74% of adults in the U.S. use the Internet, 61% have used the Internet to search for health or medical information and, 49% of adults have accessed a website that provides information about a specific medical condition or problem.

• The new National Health Interview Survey examined use by adults age 18-64 and found that women’s consumer use of health care internet exceeded men’s in every category:
• 50.8% used the Internet to look up health information during the past 12 months (58.0% of women, 43.4% of men)
• 3.3% used an online chat group to learn about health topics in the past 12 months (4.1% of women, 2.5% of men)
  4.9% communicated with a health care provider by e-mail in the past 12 months (5.6% of women, 4.2% of men)
• 6.0% requested a refill of a prescription on the Internet during the six month survey period ((6.6% of women, 5.3% of men)
• 2.7% had made an appointment with a health care provider in the past 12 months using the Internet (3.5% of women, 1.8% of men)